Buyers Want Turnkey; Your Shag Carpet Disagrees

Ready for a clear read on the Western North Carolina market without the noise? We dig into what’s actually moving homes in Henderson County right now—tight inventory, steady demand, and how pricing discipline beats wishful thinking. With rates easing and buyers more selective, the winners are sellers who prepare with precision and lead with data.

We walk through the three levers you can control—price, condition, and timing—and explain why you can’t outmarket an overpriced home. You’ll hear how appraisals anchor financed purchases, how days on market signal misalignment, and how targeted, low-cost improvements outperform splashy remodels. Think neutral paint, lighting and hardware updates, curb appeal, and pro-level photography that shapes the first showing online. We also unpack negotiation in North Carolina’s due diligence world, where calm, strategic flexibility preserves value and keeps deals together.

Along the way, we connect the dots between life events and real estate moves—new jobs, downsizing, estate planning, or a fresh start—and share how our trusted network of lenders, inspectors, contractors, tax pros, and estate attorneys helps clients make smart, tax-aware choices. Plus, we spotlight upcoming open houses, including a spacious Hendersonville property on acreage and a beautifully updated 1909 home in Asheville, so you can see these principles in action.

If you want a grounded strategy to sell faster and stronger—or to buy with confidence in a competitive pocket of the market—this conversation gives you the playbook. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s planning a move, and leave a review to tell us what topic you want covered next.

Transcript

Welcome & Show Context

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, friends. Thank you so much for being here. This is the George Real Estate Group podcast, which is a production of our live weekly radio shows hosted on multiple radio stations here in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The George Real Estate Group serves Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina, and it is a privilege to share positive news about our local real estate market and community. Thanks so much for subscribing. And of course, if you have any real estate questions or if we can help you in any way, be sure to reach out. Visit us at George Real Estate Group Radio.com for more information. Good morning and welcome to the George Real Estate Group Live Radio Broadcast here at WHAP. Every Thursday morning, bringing you positive news about your local real estate marketing community. We're so grateful to be here with you. It's our last show of February. I mean, March is around the corner, if you can believe it. Um, time flies when you're having fun, and we're so grateful to be here with you, share with you positive news about the local real estate marketing community. And um, we have a lot to cover this morning. And if you're tuning in for the first time ever, welcome. We've actually I've been doing this radio program since 2011, and you you can imagine what the real estate market was in 2011. Uh, it actually got my real estate license in 2005, and this is my 21st year with my North Carolina broker's license. But in 2011, when the market was what it was, if you remember those days, is a very different market. And yet, guess what? Real estate was still selling, and the market was still moving. It was different than what it was today. And the conversations we had and the the inventory, there was a lot of inventory. There was a in some cases a two-year supply of inventory. And for context, we have a three-month supply of inventory right now, and and it's always fascinating to look back and look at the the ebb and flow of the real estate market. But we're here every Thursday morning, and like I said, started this road radio program in 2011 uh sharing positive news about the real estate market, even in a challenging market like it was. And we now, uh the George Real Estate Group, we are located in Flat Rock. Uh, we have incredible agents. We have 20 plus agents there. If you're thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate, or even a career in real estate, we're growing, we're hiring. If you've you'd like to have a confidential consultation, whether it's your personal real estate or real estate investments, or if you want to talk about uh maybe, like I said, a career in real estate, or even if you'd like to be one of our strategic partners, we work with incredible partners like tax advisors, uh state attorneys, financial advisors, lenders, uh, our contractors, our home inspectors. We have an incredible team that we've ensembled to ultimately serve and help our clients navigate through real estate. And we are in Flat Rock. We're on Rainbow Row. There's a tip of the hat to Charleston, South Carolina, where Charlestonians would escape the heat, you know, 100-150 years ago to out of Charleston. They'd come up to the mountains where the temperatures were much cooler during the summers, and you know, those escape those uh you know brutal summers in the Charleston in the low country, and they'd come up. So uh Little Charleston, the Charleston of the Mountains, uh Rainbow Uh Row, uh tip of the hat, the Charleston's Rainbow Row. But Flat Rock is absolutely a uh multiple uh I mean connections to Charleston you know throughout the the generations, and so they would come up from Charleston. So we're in Flat Rock and we serve all of West North Carolina and the upstate. If you're thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate or want to talk through your real estate investments or your real estate, your personal real estate, you know, whatever that might be, or like I said, a career in real estate. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. We also have George Real Estate Group Radio.com where we have our blog and we also have our podcast. We podcast all of our radio shows. We are here every Thursday, right after the 10 o'clock news. We're also here every Friday morning with our Hometown Hero series. It's a privilege and honor to sponsor the Hometown Hero series. Ryan Taylor Price is the event coordinator for this weekend's Winter Ramble, and the Winter Ramble is a mountain music celebration that takes place at different venues in Henderson County this week that showcases all types of music, and we're gonna learn more. And and we're gonna honor Ryan Taylor Price as our hometown hero. And if you know people making a difference in the community, whether it's our teachers or or or or volunteers or you know, it they're the unsung heroes. And and again, we uh there's all types, and again, we're grateful to shot a shine a light on people making a difference, bringing making a difference in our community. And this music festival is is wonderful, and it's exciting to have them in our community, the winter ramble, um, which is was a mountain music uh celebration. Again, that's gonna be exciting this coming weekend, and we're excited to have that that conversation. But find us online, realestatebygreg.com. You can also call us directly, 828-393-0134. 828-393-0134. So, what what's going on in the real estate market? You know, let's have this conversation about what's going on in the real estate market. The real estate market is continuing to move. We see, I mean, the last 12 months, I mean, we're averaging some 135 single-family uh one uh 135 single family homes a month selling, 419 total active. That is low. The inventory, active inventory is low. I mentioned that in the month of uh January, we had a 30% drop in new inventory, new listings that hit our Henderson County market. That certainly impacts that supply and demand. Prices are holding our average single family home price in Henderson County at 541. This is also fascinating. Our average available price in Henderson County, 745. So the market in Henderson County is stable. We have low inventory, demand remains steady. I share, I've shared that in 2025 we had a 10% increase in in properties sold in Henderson County compared to 2024, which is remarkable. Uh, there's certainly areas of the country where that's not the case. Uh, there's also areas of the country where the inventory levels are are increasing. Again, the market's the market, the economy's the economy, interest rates are interest rates. But what we see and what we have seen here locally is the demand has sustained, and our inventory, like I said, has has uh you know remained low. So it's the supply and demand, and there are trending the interest rates are trending down, which is certainly making homes more attainable for buyers. So the combination of the interest rates, the economy we're in, the the the time of year, again, the market's the market, but we know, and I've said this multiple times, life happens, therefore real estate happens. So, regardless, you know, there's just gonna always be real estate happening, and it's and it could be really positive reasons why people are buying, selling, a new family formation, maybe it's a growing family, maybe it's uh maybe your your kids are moving off to college, or maybe um it's a new job, there's a relocation, there's so many positive reasons. Maybe it's a vacation home, maybe it's a retirement home. Wonderful, beautiful, celebratory reasons why people are buying and selling. And then, of course, there's the challenging moments, the the the loss of a loved one, the the divorce, the job loss. I mean, significant life events that sometimes impact real estate and why you may have to consider buying or selling. One of the things that we do encourage those that have lost a loved one, I mean, they do recommend not making any major life decisions in the first year, and we absolutely support that. And and again, can provide information and clarity, and ultimately it's your decision. But you know, the wisdom that they say for those that have lost a loved one not to make any major life decisions if you can. And of course, there's some circumstances that require to make big life decisions prior to the end of prior to uh a one-year uh waiting period. But again, again, every situation is unique and different, every home is unique and different, and having these uh conversations and however we might be able to support you in your your journey as you're getting clarity and information. Again, it can be a really positive reason why you're buying or selling. It could be a very challenging reason. So these are again, these are uh conversations that we're having every single day and with our clients as they're navigating through, you know, again, the market, the market's the market. We can provide information for you as you're considering that. This is really interesting, you know, selling a home, and this is on one of our more recent uh blog posts, and you can find this on George Real Estate Group Radio.com. But again, selling a home um in 2026 is not the same as it was at a few years ago. Buyers, you know, in general are more cautious, uh, their expectations are higher, they feel like they have uh you know negotiating power, which again, the old strategies of selling don't always work. And so the big so there's some big pitfalls that homeowners fall into. And again, you gotta be careful with this. This is where number one, it's always about the price. Price in your home based on the past, not today's market. A lot of homeowners are still anchoring their sales price to what the neighbor got or last year's boom market or or the multiple offer COVID years, rather than what buyers are willing to pay today. You know, the here's the good news here locally, buyer demand has been sustaining here in Henderson County. Inventory levels are low, which is for a for a seller is great news. And yet we've seen days on market get closer uh to over two months, 60 plus days. And so, you know, pricing too high, even in regardless of the market, you know, the price is based on similar size, similar conditions, similar locations, similar again. Your home could be very unique, and yet there's still gonna be some guardrails as to how uh an you know 70% of the homes sold are gonna use a financing tool with some type of mortgage, and it still has to appraise. And and real estate brokers are still you are using the same information that real estate appraisers are, and real estate appraisers have to be able to third-party, arm's length, uh you know, justify an unbiased opinion on hey, can we justify the price that a buyer and seller have gone under contract? And so that's where real estate brokers are trying to, with the best, with the information they have, based on the data that we have, try to guide and and make a decision together. I mean, it's ultimately the seller's decision where you want to price your home. But here's the thing if you price too high, you're gonna get fewer showings, and maybe none. You're gonna you also sometimes get the lowball offers, and then also longer time on the market. And the thing that we know at the George Real Estate Group is the tried and true, proven and predictable process that we follow. We've we've so, I mean, in my career, we've had the privilege of helping over 1,600 families with their real estate needs, and uh, you know, the the hundreds of homes we've sold over the years, we know that the marketing that we we employ is proven and predictable. The marketing, the professional photography, the social media that that we use, um, the open houses that we'll that will um um that we'll host, the uh you know all the activities that we do, the syndication, literally, our homes get syndicated across thousands of websites, and we know with confidence, we know that we can market homes, and we know that we get the the homes the the most exposure. And so if a home is not getting showings or activity, there there's really there's really three factors. It's there's price, there's condition, and location. And the price has to match the condition. The condition has to match the price. I mean, if you're if you're asking a million dollars, is the price, is the condition a million dollar home, right? Is the or is it um you know again, there's so many factors. I'm just using that uh generally, but you know, the price is so important. And again, the condition, the location, the features, all these things, but pricing a home is so critical. And so it the market will talk back, the market will tell you by the activity, and it and we can say with confidence it's not from a lack of marketing, it's not from a lack of exposure. Buyers have more access to properties than ever before. And so we know that our marketing works. And so if a home's not getting showings, or if a home's not getting offers, the only other factor a a client has to change, there's two choices. You can't change the location, but you you could choose to put money into the house and improve the condition. Maybe you need to remodel the kitchen, or or again, you know, sometimes that costs more than maybe doing a price adjustment, or is the price reflective of the location and the condition? Because you can't change the price, but the price and the condition are things that sellers can control. So, of course, working with your agent to price based on current comparable sales, also current comparable competition, you know, in based on our current buyer behavior, current numbers, not outdated benchmarks. A strategic price from day one urge creates urgency and often leads to more and stronger offers. And and it's okay if you didn't get it right the first time, you can make adjustments, it's temporary, it can be adjusted, and you can get ahead of the market. And and so in the market is what it's doing right now. Again, days on markets increasing, and you have competition, and you have to look at what your uh your home is in the context of the market. And so no matter how much marketing you do, you can never outmarket an overpriced home. Also, a lot of sellers think buyers will overlook cosmetic issues or small repairs, but in 2026 competitive market, first impressions matter more than ever. And homes with visible problems or outdated features often defer and deter buyers before they even step inside. And so sometimes it makes sense, again, not in every case, it makes sense to do high impact, low-cost improvements. Think fresh pain, you know, minor fixing, you know, updating fixtures, you can enhance curb appeal. These relatively small investments can significantly boost offers and reduce days on market. And then ultimately, you know how you negotiate. Negotiation is is back in a big way. Buyers are more cautious about affordability and attainability and financing. They may ask for repairs, credits, or even small, uh, you know, it could be uh small adjustments. You know, there's there's multiple terms in a contract, not just the price. Um, you might have to negotiate after the inspection. You know, homeowners who dig in and refuse to negotiate can risk deals falling apart. Here in North Carolina, our contract says buyers are not obligated to buy during the what's called the due diligence period, which is not a predetermined time frame. Buyers can walk away for any reason or no reason during that inspection, during that due diligence period. And then sellers, you don't you're not obligated to fix anything either. Uh, you and the buyer can negotiate, but the contract that we have in North Carolina, it's an as-is state, and that's why buyers get to do their investigation on the property. So, you know, being flexible but strategic, you know, in how you handle these things, understanding what buyers are looking for, how to be open. You you don't have to do anything, you are not compelled to do anything. And, you know, if it's a reasonable request request, you gotta decide. If the buyer walks away, you still have the house and the repair issue, you know. But some you know, if maybe being open to reasonable requests that keeps the deal moving forward. But sometimes small concessions can keep the contract together, which can ultimately lead to successful closing. So the other thing is not all updates are equal. A lot of homeowners make the mistake of sinking money into expensive or trendy remodels and then see minimal return on the sale. And buyers today often prefer functional, clean, move-in ready homes over projects. And so it could be cost-effective improvements that positively impact the buyer's perception. It could be fresh landscape, the curb curb appeal, it could be neutral, updated paint, maybe it's updated light fixtures or hardware, and professional staving staging and high-quality photos. Again, these are these help improve the buyer's perception with low cost. So a lot of these, a lot of these things, you know, the the we invest at the George Real Estate Group professional photography. And this is where it matters because in first impressions these days are online. It's not when they walk in the door, it's online, and so that's the first impression. Professional photography, and and sometimes we do virtual staging, these high-quality visuals help homes sell faster and at stronger prices because they grab buyer attention right away. We are again we have a proven and predictable marketing process and procedure that we we we follow. Again, all these things are our job is to provide information and and clarity so our clients can decide what's right for them. But we're doing this every single day, and this is usually the biggest financial transaction that you'll have that you'll do in your lifetime, and we can help come alongside with you for the process. So we'd love to have the conversation with you. I have shared that we work in concert with incredible professionals. We have a team of tax strategists, CPAs, estate attorneys, 1031 intermediators. We have access to DSTs, we have access to commercial lending, uh, residential lending. It's in estate, like I said, estate attorneys. All these pieces of the puzzle, you know, we have this professional ecosystem that we've created and the experience, the and really how we are strategic in our approach. There's a calmness, we have the bigger picture in mind, we are tax aware, we're market aware, and it's relationship-driven, backed by our strong work ethic, and and protecting our clients, and how we help our clients navigate through this market, and not in the markets, the market, and more importantly, how we help our clients navigate through their situation and having somebody they can count on, somebody that they can call if something arises, having you know, just the our communication and the client care that we have and the respect that we provide and the dignity that we come alongside with our clients no matter what's going on. And we take it, we approach from curiosity and a collaboration approach, and it's and it's working together and ultimately helping our clients navigate through. But it's we have the experience that we again, this is my 21st year at the team. We have over a hundred years at the George Real Estate George Real Estate Group. We have over a hundred years combined experience, and it's this strategy that we put together in the bigger picture, and it's the transparency that we provide for our clients in the process. And and and and let's be candid, there's an emotional intelligence of navigating through um whatever situation you're in, in the the the temperament that we have and the sophistication that we have and the depth of experience. So we would love to have a conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no uh there's no obligation for a confidential consultation. And again, we'd love to have these conversations with you. It could be your personal home, it could be your strategy with your uh real estate investment portfolio, it could be a conversation how real estate is impacting with your estate planning, and and it's the the bigger picture here, and having these conversations and and under how we understand the nuances of our contracts, how we understand the nuances of estates and the nuances of tax implications. These are having somebody in your corner that can help you. And and of course, when you interview someone, you're evaluating can I trust this person? Would I refer my friends and family to them? Are they calm under pressure? And you know, when you're interviewing for to hire somebody, are they thinking strategically? Strategically and ultimately when you hire a real estate broker, they are your fiduciary, they're working on your behalf. And so this is important. This is why these interviews matter. Having a conversation, if you're thinking about selling or buying your personal home, if you're thinking about buying or selling an investment property, if you're thinking about your estate planning, your tax strategy in regards to real estate, we have the experience and the knowledge and the systems, and we'd love uh to interview for for that. It's a it's truly a privilege and honor to work with our clients. We have some open houses coming up, which we love hosting open houses. First off, it's a chance to for you to meet agents on our team. You can interview agents at the open house. You might say, hey, this is a great chance to to meet one of our agents to see if they might be a great match to hire for selling our house. You can also see the property that's on showcase. We have 1867 Fruitland Road in Hendersonville, over five acres, just shy of six acres. This home's over 3,700 square feet, built in 1973. 1867 Fruitland Road is going to be open this Sunday from 2 to 4, hosted by uh the Amy team. And again, that that'd be a great property. You can meet the Amy team. You can also see uh the incredible property that we have for sale. Also, another open house uh up in Asheville that we we have uh for sale that that's gonna be open this this Sunday as well. Uh 83 Arlington's also gonna be open one to three this Sunday. Can you believe Sunday is March 1st? Uh but 83 Arlington Street in Asheville. Uh it's an incredible home. Built in 1909, but completely updated and renovated. Three-bedroom, two full baths. It's a beautiful property in a great location this Sunday, one to three. So just wanted to give you a highlight of some of the open houses. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram, our social media to see about our upcoming open houses, our new listings, our properties that we have. Uh, you can follow us. We we love to to connect with you. You can follow us our on our podcast, on your favorite podcast platform. We'd love to connect with you there. Uh, and and again, just if we can help you, it's really about advocating, it's about helping. And again, if you're curious about what the market's doing uh in your your neighborhood for in regards to your specific home, you know, again, there's we are happy to have the conversation. I've shared with you that sometimes, and this we feel great about this, not not because it helped us, but when we help our clients, in some cases, some clients walk away saying, Hey, we are so thankful for this information, but because of this information, we are able to make a decision, and sometimes our clients make the decision to stay, which is great, because if that's the right and best decision for them, we've done our job. And then in some cases, this the client says, Okay, it is the right decision for us to sell. And ultimately, our clients make the decision for what's right for them. It's not the market, it's not the interest rates, it's not the economy, the housing market's the market, and and we can provide clarity and information for our clients to decide what's right for them. We are we meet regularly. I mean, we have multiple meetings a day, we have availability throughout the week. Uh, we work on the weekends. Uh we are the real estate business, frankly, is is seven days a week, and and guess what? Sometimes we take a day off during the middle of the week if we're working with clients, and sometimes we'll work ten days straight. It is the privilege we have working in real estate. And again, our um our clients and their needs and helping navigate through, you know, real estate is not a uh Monday through Friday job, nine to five. It is because it's around life, real estate is 247-2, just to be candid with you. And that's where we love helping our clients navigate through that. So you can call us directly at 828-393-0134, 828-393-0134. You can find us online at realestatebygreg.com. You can also follow us on social media and please subscribe to our podcast. We'd love to connect with you there. We love uh you know sharing again about the positive news about the real estate market, and we'd love to connect with you. Tune in every Friday morning at 8 45 with the Hometown Hero series. Tomorrow morning, Ryan Taylor Price is going to be honored as our hometown hero. And of course, if you know somebody making a difference in our community, someone that you'd love to honor, uh, somebody that you'd like to shine a light on, uh, unsung heroes, certainly uh reach out to WHKP and let's connect. Uh, we'd love to honor them, but we love sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series here every Friday morning at 845. Well, time flies when you're having fun. We're we're so grateful to be here with you every Thursday morning and right after the 10 o'clock hour. But have a great day. Have a great week, and of course, give us a call directly, 828-393-0134. Maybe the house feels a little too big these days. The stairs, a little steeper, the pace of life, a little too fast. But what if your next move wasn't about letting go? It was about making space for peace, for freedom, for what matters most. At the George Real Estate Group, we understand that real estate isn't just about the house. It's about transitions, timing, and trust. We've helped thousands of families in Western North Carolina make smart, thoughtful moves. Closer to nature, closer to family, closer to home. So when you're ready to write size, simplify, or start fresh, we'll be here. The George Real Estate Group. Local, trusted, proven. Call us today, 828 393 0134, and find us online at realestatebygreg.com because your next chapter deserves to feel just right.